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Thursday, December 25, 2014

Birthdays, I find, should always be about receiving pleasure. The ultimate pleasure. To me, nothing brings more pleasure than
chocolate, especially when it is the best, most refined European chocolate made
into a dense, unique, cake. It is the
philosophy of one of New York’s best chocolatiers, Maribel Liberman.

Liberman,
a native of Honduras, understands good chocolate when she tastes it. She owns an exquisite store in New York City
called MarieBelle Chocolatier. And as
someone who understands the importance of a good piece of chocolate, she also
finds that “life is all about the pleasure and happiness we find in food, art
and beauty”.

Until I
became a fan of all things French, I couldn’t picture beauty as being present in
food. The French excel at this. Everything from the packaging to the way
edibles are presented, the thought placed in creating and enjoying meals, the
quality of the ingredients, and the sharing of those experiences is conducive
to beauty. Beauty inspires art, and chocolate
was the venue, this birthday when I turned 45, for that inspiration.

The treat
for my birthday was a Marie Antoinette
Vintage Truffle Cake, made by this chocolate house that also creates
artfully illustrated chocolates, raw cacao confisseries, signature ganaches and
decadent hot chocolate mixes.

I ordered the cake through Dean &Deluca, but it is also available through the company’s website. The cake honors Queen Marie Antoinette of
France, who adored the chocolate pastilles that then chemist to the French
Crown, Debauve & Gallais, created for her so she could swallow unpleasant
tasting medicines. Marie Antoinette
adored chocolate, and this cake, which comes packaged inside a box simulating
an ancient book, includes a poem in her honor, and her
chocolate:

She stares with puzzle at her treasure book

She can’t help but wonder

What the story is all about inside

She flips the cover

And to her surprise:

A mysterious dark slab

With a rich golden chandelier

Simulating the entrance of a Palace

How amazing!!!

He contemplated her with joy

As she closed her eyes as if

She was going into a trance

He was the man she loved

But at that moment

He took a second place

People warned her that one

Becomes a prisoner of obsession

She held the slab and took a first bite

Melting cream in her mouth she screamed

OH… CHOCOLAT!!

Indeed, the Marie Antoinette
Vintage Truffle Cake is like biting into a truffle. It is quite small, about 6.5” by 4.5”, but it
compensates in richness. The truffle
cream chocolate lies on top of crisp chocolate wafers, so when one bites into
it, there is also a certain crunch. It
is decorated with the image of an antique chandelier, faintly showing out of a
sprinkle of gold glitter, and to my surprise, it did not fade throughout the
life of the cake.

I recommend a rich, dark shot of Italian espresso
to accompany this luscious dessert. And
of course, a trip to this chocolatier is de
rigueur during a visit to New York City.

After the cake is consumed (which will not take long, believe me), the
simulated case can be used for storage of cherished secrets – love notes,
valentines, etc.

A small piece
with a cup of strong espresso is all this cake needs. It should be cut in triangles as shown here.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

The holidays
offer the perfect excuse to have nice drinks, and as many of them as possible!
This year I was able to get my hands on some supreme quality vodka, and it came
with a good cause too. Snow Leopard Vodka is the contribution
of entrepreneur and philanthropist Stephen Sparrow, who after learning of the
challenges of the communities in the area the snow leopard inhabits and the
danger of extinction of the species, came up with the idea of this beverage.

The snow leopard (panthera uncia) is the least known of the big cats. Personally, I find its coat the most
beautiful – a white, mushy coat with black markings. It has an unusually long tail, which serves
him well to prowl in the mountains. These
animals are loners, getting together only during the breeding season in
winter. They inhabit the highest
mountains in the world – the Tibetan plateau throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan
and Nepal. The species is on the
critically endangered list due to deforestation and black market trafficking
with none other than China. Thanks to
people like Sparrow and the Snow Leopard Trust, the species may have a chance.

The Snow Leopard vodka is produced in
Poland. It comes in a beautifully
designed bottle with a painted picture of a snow leopard. The drink is distilled 6 times directly from
the ancient grain of spelt and has a superbly clean taste, round and
creamy. It makes for a great base for
cocktails. Not surprisingly it has won
numerous awards. Here are two of my
favorite recipes.

Appletini (the
best version you’ve EVER had)

Ingredients:

3oz. Snow Leopard vodka

2oz. Schönauer Apfel
schnapps

1/2 oz. freshly squeezed
lemon juice

Preparation:

Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker
and pour into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with an apple slice pierced with a cinnamon stick.

Snow Kitten

This is a recipe
created by the bartenders at the Light Bar, in London’s modern St. Martin’s
Lane Hotel. A place that offers
cocktails with a European twist, using ingredients like Elderflower liqueurs,
champagne and lychee juice. It is worth
the work in finding the ingredients.

Ingredients:

2oz. Snow Leopard vodka

12 blueberries

2 to 5 bar spoons of
damson plum preserves

2 bar spoons of honey

1/4 oz lemon juice

Preparation:

Muddle the blueberries. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir, then
shake with ice and strain into a Martini glass.
Garnish with blueberries on a stirrer.

Keep in mind that when you
purchase a bottle of Snow Leopard vodka, 15% of the cost goes to the species conservation. The company aims to sell
100,000.00 bottles a year. That would
provide about $450,000.00 towards conservation.
An amazing effort and also utterly delicious.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Thanksgiving is the most celebrated
holiday in the American calendar. That
is because mostly every family who lives in the United States participates in
the holiday in some way, regardless of religion or race.

But what is the essence of
Thanksgiving? Beyond the eating and the
shopping, it is the foremost way to celebrate the harvest, and send hopes into
the void for a future bounty one. I like
this latter idea of Thanksgiving. Since
I moved to Florida, over 20 years ago now, I especially enjoy the Autumn. Once the last days of August hits I seem to
become alive, and the smells of the new season come alive in my kitchen as well.

From the entertaining point of view, it is
the ideal time of year. The fruits of
the harvest invite a varied sort of cooking, and the chillier weather makes for
wonderful get-togethers and cozy moments.

This year I decided to by-pass the
ubiquitous turkey and made an Argentinian classic – carbonada. This version is
by Chef Guillermo Calabrese, one of Buenos Aires top chefs, who started his
career at the famous Gato Dumas Restaurant in Recoleta. I remember eating at this trendy restaurant
in the 90’s. It was a mixture of refined
Argentine specialties with a touch of French cuisine, in an ambiance that was stylish
without being presumptuous.

The carbonada
is a fulfilling dish for a cold day, not unlike the weather we were lucky to
have for Thanksgiving. It is served
inside an acorn squash, making for a beautiful presentation. Although it takes some time to prepare, it
beats the long hours of the turkey and proves for a dish full of the typical
flavours of Fall for which you will be remembered.

Argentine Carbonada in acorn squash:

Ingredients for 4 servings:

4 small
acorn squash (about 6” in diameter)

4oz
unsalted butter

3oz
sugar

¾ cup
milk

3 small
corn stalks

Corn
oil, as needed

12oz
plain rice

1 medium
yellow onion

2 small
white onions

3 green
onions

1 red
pepper, chopped

1pd
veal, cut in cubes

1 can
tomatoes

3.5oz
white wine

Salt
and pepper to taste

5 oz
veal stock

3.5 oz
dried apricots

1 Tbsp
sugar

½ Tbsp
cumin

2 bay
leaves

½ Tbsp
sweet paprika

¼
grated goat cheese

More
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Wash and dry the acorn squashes. Cut the tops, which will be used as covers,
clean and remove the seeds, and cut small incisions on the inside with a knife.

Coat the insides of the squashes with softened
butter, dust with sugar and bathe with a bit of milk. Place on an oven plaque and bake at 380F for
25 minutes. Check halfway to ensure the
squashes are not disintegrating. They
should only be partially cooked at this point.

Cut the corn in smaller pieces, blanche
and reserve. In a separate saucepan add
about 2 Tbsp of corn oil and sauté the rice no longer than 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and reserve.

In another saucepan with 2 more Tbsp oil
sauté the onions, previously chopped.
Add the pepper, the meat (make sure you clean all the fat) and
brown. Add the tomatoes and deglaze with
the wine. Season and cook until the
alcohol evaporates.

Add the rice, the veal stock, dried
apricots and season with sugar, cumin, bay leaves and paprika. Cook for 15 minutes on high. Fill the squashes with this stew and bake for
another 25 minutes at 380F. Sprinkle
with a nice grated goat cheese. I chose a
Spanish one from La Mancha, flavored with paprika, which you can buy HERE. It mimicked the flavor of the pieces
beautifully. Serve with corn cobs on the side.

A tablescape inspired by the colours of Autumn

After such a nice main course, the dessert
had to be just as memorable. And maybe a
bit more patriotic. I find nothing more
authentically American than cheesecake.
Thanks to the Martha Stewart magazine, I became aware of a uniquely
crafted maple syrup, infused with Tahitian vanilla and Egyptian chamomile. As soon as I saw the recipe, I ordered it
immediately.

This is a very rich, creamy cheesecake,
ideal to have with some strong Earl Gray tea.

Fill a roasting pan halfway with water and
set on a rack in the lower third of the oven (this will ensure a very moist
environment for the cheesecake to cook into); position another rack in the
middle and pre-heat to 350F. Wrap the
outside (bottom and side) of a 9” springform pan with foil.

To make the crust, pulse the Graham
crackers in a food processor a few times until crushed. Add the walnuts and brown sugar and continue
pulsing until finely ground. Add the
melted butter, nutmeg and salt and pulse to combine. Press into the bottom and about 1” up the
side of the prepared pan. Bake until the
crust is golden, about 10’. Transfer to
a rack and let cool completely.

For the filling, beat the cream cheese in
a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed until nearly smooth,
about 1’. Add the maple syrup and
granulated sugar and beat until smooth, about 2’ more. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after
each addition. Increase the speed to
medium high and beat in the flour, heavy cream, lemon juice and maple extract
until the filling is smooth and silky, about 1’.

Pour the filling into the cooled
crust. Transfer the cheesecake to the
oven, placing it on the middle rack, directly over the water bath. Bake until golden and set around the edge but
still jiggly in the center, about 45’ to 1 hour. Transfer to a rack and let cool to room
temperature, then cover and refrigerate until cold and set, preferably
overnight. Let the cheesecake sit at
room temperature 20”, the run a thin knife around the edge and remove the
springform pan. Serve and enjoy!

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Once again, as it
is customary for me, I have attended the Food & Wine Festival at Disney’s
Epcot. It is an event I look forward to
every Autumn and I truly enjoy. The festival
has grown every year and includes more and more countries each time with more
dishes to try. As an added bonus, one
gets to pair the sample-sized servings with regional wines. A win-win no doubt.

This year
however, I found the quality of the foods offered quite lame, and at times
without any flavor.

My first stop was
France. It is always my favorite country
when it comes to gastronomy. One of the
perennial offerings of this pavilion are the escargots. This year, they decided to do a nice
amuse-bouche and they put them into a crumbly pastry tart, thus a Tartlette aux Escargots. The result was good, and accompanied by the Kir à la Pomegranate it opened up the
appetite nicely.

Next I headed for nearby Canada,
as I wanted to try the Seared Rainbow
Trout, topped with bacon, friseé and L8 harvest vinegar. It is very hard to ruin trout, especially if
it’s not overcooked. Sadly, I have to
report that these people have managed to do it.
The fish tasted like nothing at all, the only flavor contributing to it given
only by the bacon. And friseé and L8 harvest?? I definitely missed it. A lonesome single string of lettuce without
any dressing whatsoever. Very bad
indeed. The Neige Première Apple Ice Wine I have had before. It should have been chillier.

As I kept walking I stopped
at the Italy pavilion, where I tasted some very good Limoncello, and later a
shot of acquavit in Norway. The former
very deliciously sweet and fruity, the latter highly alcoholic and without much
flavor. Italy also had in stock some
very unique porcelain to serve espresso, and to which I couldn’t help
myself. The line is called I*Wares, by Seletti, and they’re worth exploring. The espresso cups are made of fine white porcelain
and include a spoon. The only note of
bright colour is on the painted handles, making them ideal to mix and match.

In Germany, I got my hands on some wonderful apple schnapps,
which I’ve tried before and thought would be very good to have on hand to add
to some apple desserts now that Fall is upon us. Schönauer
Apfelis a
delicious mix of Germany's best apples and grain spirits that tastes
truly like pure apple heaven. In
Germany, it’s the way a party starts. It makes great apple martinis.

For my main course I wanted
something I’d never tried before, kind of exotic. I stopped at Africa’s outpost. After making sure there were no ivory animal
carvings around, I tried the Bobotie with
turkey and mushrooms. This is the
national dish of South Africa, pretty much like a frittata, made with egg, curried
meat and grapes. The portion was small,
but it was very filling. Going back to
quality ingredients, it made me think that in South Africa, where produce is
much fresher and better than here in the USA, this dish must indeed taste
wonderful. Here it was just okay. I had it along with M.A.N. Vintners Chenin Blanc, refreshing and very helpful in
counteracting the spicy flavours of the dish.

The Bobotie left me without any more want for savory. So I headed for the “Desserts &
Champagne” booth, where I order the customary Dessert trio. This was
probably the biggest disappointment of all.
Usually this trio of desserts is a pleasure to indulge in, but not this
year. It consisted of Passion Fruit Coconut Creamsicle (an
average custard with a jelly top), a Blueberry-Lime
Cheesecake Roll (the best one of the three, should just have had this
dessert in a bigger piece instead of the trio), and Chocolate Espresso Opera Cake, which was an insult to the excellent
dessert created by the Dalloyau patissiers (for an excellent Opera cake that
you can find locally, worth every one of your tastebuds, go HERE). Dry, tasteless chocolate, lacking the
requisite coffee flavour in the genoise layers.
A disaster.

The best part of the dessert experience
was the champagne. I ordered a glass of very
expensive Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. It was refreshingly clean, very smooth, and
did not overpower the flavours of the food.
A pity to have had it with such poor sweet pairings.

But even if dessert disappoints at the
Food & Wine Festival, if one is local, one has the privilege to bring some very
good ones from the French patisserie on site.
I selected Lemon-Merengue tarte
and Framboise at the end of my
journey and hurried towards the car, as the day was quite warm.

"Framboise" is a combination of velvetyraspberry mousse and chocolate genoise.

The France pavilion has also
recently opened an ice-cream parlor.
They carry some unique European flavours, and I couldn’t resist trying
the Caramel Fleur de Sel. I bought a cone. It tasted mostly like caramel, and I couldn’t
really detect the “sel”. Still, who
cares when you’re hurrying home with some really good dessert under your belt?

Sunday, September 28, 2014

The French and
their bread are a case apart. One can
spend hours debating on the subject of bread with French people. It is just as important to them as wine is.

In France,
pairing the proper bread with one’s food is something taken very seriously. Rye bread is the only one eaten with oysters,
while breads made with lemon or aux hèrbes are reserved for fish. Pastries, such as tea cakes or cookies, are
mostly consumed for the mid-afternoon treat called le
goutier and are rarely eaten in the morning.

Originally, bread was the staple food of the
peasants. It was not until Louis XIV’s
reign that bread started to be refined into what is known today as the
ubiquitous baguette, and all its extensive
varieties. In the 18th
century, the aristocracy decided that the pain
de campagne was a bit too heavy for their stomachs, and the refinements of
flour in order to produce white bread began.

Bread was one of the main causes of the
French Revolution. Following a bad
harvest, the government decided to raise the price of cereals. This meant the common folk were not only
deprived of the beautiful palaces and glamour the aristocracy enjoyed, but were
now also going to starve. The people
revolted, and the rest, as they say, is bloody history – literally.

Kirsten Dunst uttering the famous
line “let them eat cake” in a

still from “Marie Antoinette”

Another still from “Marie Antoinette”
showing beaucoup du pain!

When Marie Antoinette uttered the famous “qu'ils
mangent de la brioche”,
it was indeed an insult to injury to the already starving populace. She could only keep her head for another four
years after that.

Nowadays, in Paris alone there are about 35,000 bakeries, which produce
about 3.5 million tons of bread per year.
When it comes to baguettes alone, it is estimated that 10 million are
sold each day. In France, it is illegal
to put preservatives into the bread.
Hence one must buy it every day.
I remember the practice was the same in Buenos Aires (where I was
born). One would go to the almacén within one’s own neighborhood to
get the bread for the day.

This
is unfortunately not the case with bread in the United States, where generally,
the bread is very bad. One can find
excellent bread in any bakery in Europe, or even in the supermarket. But in the U.S., unless one goes the extra
mile to find it, all there is available is what I call “plastic bread”. It is chewy like gum and has no crispness at
all. An insult to the art of baking
bread really.

Luckily, and thanks to the local
farm-to-table movement, there are a few places where one can go for just the
right amount of goodness when it comes to bread. I am speaking, of course, of The Olde Hearth Bread Co., a local
bakery with a stall at the most excellent East End Market. They also sell their products over the
weekends at the Windermere and Maitland Farmers Markets. They supply the top local area restaurants
and premiere hotels… and I have their breads all over my freezer at home too. For me it is de rigueur, every 2 to 3 months, to place a large order and stock
up on their wonderful bounty.

Here’s
what I got this last time I went, starting at the top right hand corner and
then clockwise:

-Croissants. Their plain croissants are the best ones I’ve
been able to find in Orlando.

-Fougasse
a l’oignon. Small
breads with onion, ideal for substantial sandwiches to go on a picnic for
instance.

-Ficelles.
Two small baguettes to laden with butter and preserves for breakfast in the
morning. For more details on the French breakfast, go here.

-Chocolate
boule.
Yes. This is a pain the campagne
made with chocolate and either dried mango or dried cherries. I prefer the mango. Toasted with a slab of cold, salted butter
and a cappuccino, it is my weekend treat.

-Pain
de mie raisins.
Smells like the holiday season already.
Great toasted with some butter but even better for French toast.

Not pictured, but also
worth trying, are the specialized baguettes
aux figues and noisette (ideal
for a great cheese plate), as well as the brioche challah loaf, which makes an
ideal dipping bread.

I’ve always longed to visit famous
bakeries in Paris, but for now, I am happy I have The Olde Hearth Bread Co. for my monthly supply of bread.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Feeling blue is not always a bad thing, especially when it comes to cheese. I love cheese in all its forms, but blues, I have to say, are my favorites. I mostly eat French cheese, but when it comes to “blues” I do like the whole spectrum. Italian Gorgonzola and very British Stilton have a special place in my heart. Recently, I came upon what may be considered the world’s most complex blue.
Fellow foodie Sudi Pigott recommended a mysterious fromager in Oregon, with a particularly coveted cheese called Rogue River Blue, which is produced in the old-fashioned way and with lait cru. This unique delicacy of a cheese matures wrapped in Syrah leaves that have been previously soaked in pear brandy. The result is an intensely flavoured cheese, quite similar in intensity to Stilton; however the pear brandy provides the difference in flavours. This cheese also has an accentuated taste of hazelnut and oak. If well-paired, it will burst your palate into delectable heaven.

The leaf-wrapped, brandy soaked, Rogue River Blue

What do I mean by
well-paired? We all know that proper
cheese must be consumed with proper wine.
Generally, blue cheeses pair marvelously with sweet wines, especially
Rieslings or Voigners. Even maybe a
Sauternes, for which I would recommend starting your meal with a supreme foie
gras. That being said, my best recommendation
for the Rogue River Blue is the
great Marcel Deiss and his Altenberg
Grand Cru.

I’d recommend a vintage for
this wine no more than six years old.So
if you can get your hands on a 2008 or 2009 bottle, never mind the expense and
splurge for your own good.Alternatively, if your pocket allows for less splurging, you can also
try a more mineral Riesling, but nonetheless great with cheese, like “Recas”,
from scary Transylvania.This wine has a
soft flavor of peaches and is also floral, with just enough body to pair with
blue and slightly strong cheeses, like a Comté or an Emmentaler.

For an exemplary plate of
blues, include also another version like a Bleu
de Gex, a creamy, semi-soft cheese from the Jura mountains, also made with
unpasteurized milk. Both of these
cheeses will benefit tremendously with a small topping of fruit compote or confit, made from Alsatian white wines
and fruits. Try those from L’Epicurien to impress your guests with
the talk of the evening.

Because it is
also made with pears, this confit
brings out the flavor of the Rogue Blue unlike anything else.

And so I made my plate, the two blues, a
slice of a very nice Comté reserve and yet another special confit for it, and delectable, melt-in-your-mouth Stilton and pecan
crackers.

They are quite
addictive, and taste like heaven in your mouth.
You can double or triple the recipe and keep several logs in your
freezer. Then defrost in the fridge
overnight when you’re ready to bake them.

Blue-cheese-pecan
Icebox crackers:

Ingredients:

½ cup pecan halves

¾ all-purpose flour

4 Tbsp. very cold, very
good, unsalted butter (I use Echiré)

3 oz. blue cheese, such as
Stilton, crumbled

Preparation:

Place the pecans
on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool.
Transfer the pecans to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until
finely ground.

Add the flour to
the ground pecans and pulse briefly to combine.
Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse
meal. Add the cheese and process until
the dough comes together and is well combined.
Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and shape into a 2” wide
log. Wrap the log in wax paper and
refrigerate for at least 24 hours or freeze for later use.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to
325F. Slice the well-chilled log into ¼”
thick slices. Transfer them to a baking
sheet and bake immediately, rotating the sheet half way through cooking, until
the crackers are golden brown and firm in the center, about 20 to 25 minutes
(the crackers should not get brown around the edges). Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Monday, May 12, 2014

I’ve been
visiting Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort for several years now, and as
such, I have eaten at almost all the restaurants in the park. Almost.
There was one that I’d been wanting to try for the longest time: Le Cellier, at the Canada pavilion.

Le
Cellier is a steakhouse, a tribute to French Canada and a pricey one at
that. But the food is great and the
service super. It is the ideal
restaurant for a cozy dinner in late fall, although I happened to go in the
Spring. The entryway to the restaurant
takes one through a path among a replica of the great Victoria Gardens in
British Vancouver. It looked
particularly beautiful at this time of year, no doubt on occasion of the Flower
and Garden Festival, which had the whole park blooming.

Inside, the restaurant follows
the theme of its name (“Cellier” means cave
or wine cellar in French) with décor as that of the inside of a medieval abbey
where the monks used to age the wine in, all with archways in stone.

A very friendly waitress came
and offered me a drink. I decided to
choose something that would go along with my meal, so I had a glass of 2010 Château
des Charmes, a Canadian Merlot bottled at an estate in the Niagara Falls
region. It had abundant blackberry notes,
with a slightly oaky nose and a hint of vanilla. It paired beautifully with the meal I had.

My starter was a plentiful
bread-basket, with 3 different types of bread (white, pretzel and whole nut),
and a disc of butter that was half spread with fleur de sel, half with sugar
maple syrup. The sugar maple
complemented the nutty bread beautifully.
It was such a tasty idea that I will definitely implement it at home.

For my first
course I went with a Spring classic - Navarin d’agneau. The lamb was cooked to perfection, brown on
the outside and very pink (almost raw, but I have no problem eating raw meat) on
the inside. It was surrounded by a
velouté of avocado, sautéed and fresh vegetables and…delicious morels.
It was served at an ideal temperature and was filling without being
heavy.

For dessert, the friendly
waitress suggested the maple crème brulée.
Once again, it did not disappoint.
The slight touch of maple flavor seemed to be ideally suited for the
creamy nature of the dessert (a recipe to look into).

As I said before, Le Cellier is an expensive restaurant,
but one where one can find prime meat that is also cooked as it should be. This is no easy accomplishment, since most of
the restaurants I’ve eaten at locally offer dismal options. In the fall, the menu offers delicacies like
venison rack and a scrumptious charcuterie starter. Reservations are highly recommended.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Spring is the
time of the year when we can finally venture outside and experience some warmth
and sunny days. I love this time of year
here in Florida, when the days are bright and sunny, not too hot and inviting
for barbecues and just lounging around with a great cocktail.

I have become a
great mixologist and love to craft cocktails at home. So I have gotten my hands on a few bar
supplies and a few great drink recipes and have followed through in typical
French fashion.

The French are very keen in starting a
great meal with what they call an “àpero” (aperitif). So much so, that there is even an actual
drink by this name, which is generally served over ice. “Apero” is bright orange in colour and has a
sharp taste with an aniseed finish. It
is very refreshing and can sideline easily into a meal.

Apero on the rocks

My favorite cocktail starter
however is “Lillet Rosé”, which is a fortified wine blend of Sauvignon and
Muscatel grapes.It smells like flowers
and ripe berries, hence making it perfect for a refreshing cocktail, full of
flavor.There are also Lillet Rouge and
Blanche, but Rosé is my favorite.I have
created the most delicious cocktails with this àpero, all wonderful for this time of the year. The first suggestion is one I
have seen in one of Martha Stewart’s magazines.
This is an ideal cocktail to serve at a semi-formal party, where your
guests can wander in and out of your home and into a backyard or garden. It packs a punch, so be sure you serve it
with some nice appetizers.

Lillet Rosé Spring
cocktail

Ingredients:

·2 ounces Lillet Rosé

·2 ounces ruby red grapefruit juice

·1 ounce gin

·1 edible flower for garnish

Preparation:

Combine the Lillet, grapefruit juice and
gin in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake
until well chilled. Strain and pour into
a champagne coupe and garnish with the flower.
Serve immediately.

Now for those afternoons when
you arrive from work exhausted and need a cool, refreshing drink to unwind, may
I suggest my friend’s Daryl Robinson’s Sunset
Rosé. You can make it with any rosé
wine made out of garnache grapes, but Lillet suits it particularly well.

Sunset Rosé

Ingredients:

·1 ounce Grand Marnier

·4 ounces Lillet Rosé

·Club soda, as needed

·Dash of orange bitters

·Orange twist, for garnish

Preparation:

In a fully iced wine glass pour the
Grand Marnier and Lillet and stir with a cocktail spoon. Top the glass with club soda and add a dash
of orange bitters. Garnish with an
orange twist and serve.

A drink I really do enjoy at the end of a long
day is the ubiquitous Martini. I was
thrilled to try Lillet’s own suggestion to make it with the wonderful
rosé. Here is yet another refreshing
recipe.

Rosé Reverse Martini

Ingredients:

·4 ounces Lillet Rosé

·1 ounce gin

·2 dashes orange bitters

Preparation:

Pour ingredients into
a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into
a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a
freshly cut orange peel, rubbed over the top of the glass in order to express
the oils.

So try your hand at mixing the French way this month and let
me know how your party went.

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About Me

I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and lived there during the first twenty years of my life. I've been living in the Sunshine State for over twenty years now, most recently in Orlando - the city of Disney.
I'm a Political Scientist and have traveled extensively as the true Saggitarian that I am. I love to experience new cultures through food and customs. In this blog, I aim to invite you to slow down and enjoy the pleasures of life in order to become the perfect, non-desperate hostess - mainly good food, wine, travel, great literature and entertainment with the people that matter to us. This is a blog about debauchery, so if you are not interested in self-indulgence, you might have to look elsewhere.
As far as my personal interests go, I have a sponge-like mind and absorb as much from the world around me as I can. I am mostly interested in everything French, the country's history, cuisine and traditions.
This blog is about dreams, projects and passions. Mine just as much as yours. I review products and places, and test recipes. I invite you to peruse and indulge...